You have described and written a lot of detail here regarding each perspective. However, this going to have to be reduced somewhat because to meet 2.1 you need to outline a study that supports that particular perspective.
For Psychodynamic, you could consider the Little Han’s study. For Cognitive, you could consider the work of Piaget and outline a study such as the ‘three mountains study’.
To meet 2.2, you need to ensure that you evaluate the study below that you will describe.
Consider looking at issues such as the research method used, generalis ability, Validity, reliability, ethical issues etc.
Study;
For many decades, psychologists have tried to understand human behaviour. There have been different models that have come up trying to explain why people act the way they do. Such approaches have been used in different areas, such as analysis of crime suspects’ behaviours, evaluation of witness evidence, and treatment of behavioural and mental issues.
The psychodynamic approach to psychology is a perspective of understanding human behaviour derived from the work of Sigmund Freud. The Australian-born neurologist had a major impact in the field of psychology through experiments and analysis of his clients. Freud referred to the psychodynamic approach to psychology or human behaviour as the theory of the psyche. According to the neurologist, our mental issues and behaviours can usually be traced beyond our conscious mind, and that innate impulses influence people’s behaviour. According to his talking therapy approach to a mental problem, when a person talks to a psychoanalyst about an issue, they may be able to identify early life issues that may have led to internal conflicts with their subconscious mind. Such conflicts, although one may not be aware of them, maybe the causatives of our mental issues and influence our behaviour (Psychologist World, n.d.). In these contexts, Freud’s psychodynamic theory of the psyche involves analysis of not only the conscious mind but the interplay with the subconscious mind.
Freud used the method of psychoanalysis that attempts to uncover unconscious elements that affect an individual, the conflict between society’s demands and biological demand, and early childhood family experiences. Freud suggested that a person’s feelings, self-perception, thoughts, and personality are a product of three elements, namely ego, superego, and id. Ego represents the conscious thoughts a person has, superego is related to social conscience or perception of society’s expectations, and id represents the subconscious mind, inner desires, and pleasure-seeking. The three elements are interrelated. The superego is concerned with tracking the social norms and our guilt, while the ego tries to ensure the inner desires and pleasure-seeking aspects of thoughts are satisfied. According to Freud, the three elements are also known as the psyche, and the primary energy is libido, or energy created by sexual, and survival needs (McLeod, 2020). In these contexts, the psychodynamic approach to psychology is concerned with how human beings’ desires are created and the interplay between the three elements of human behaviour.
Freud noted that one way of understanding the interplay between ego, id, and superego is to consider the different stages of psychosexual development or consider how the three elements affect our behaviour in different stages in life. The first stage is known as the oral stage, which is when a baby is born and requires nourishment. The baby expects the need for food to be satisfied as and when they need it. The second is the anal stage, as a person grows older and begins toilet training. The third stage is the phallic stage as one turns three years and ego starts to develop as they experience the outside world. As people grow, they develop feelings of guilt because of making unreasonable needs leading to the development of the superego (Psychologist World, n.d.). In these contexts, Freud’s psychodynamic model of human behaviour relates to how human beings start developing at birth.
The cognitive approach to psychology borrows from cognition, which refers to human mental activity, which includes thinking, memory, use of language, and learning. Cognitive psychology is a study of the mind as an information processor. As an approach to human behaviour, cognitive psychology views human beings as processors of information like the way computers process information. The approach assumes that our behaviours are influenced by our thought process, which is cognition.
This approach is attributed to Ulrich Neisser’s book Cognitive Psychology that alluded those human beings work similarly to a computer. The approach was developed in opposition to the views expressed in the behavioural approach of human behaviour that is based on stimuli and response. However, the cognitive approach to human behaviour is based on three major assumptions. First, the approach assumes that behaviour can be explained scientifically. Secondly, the approach assumes that behaviour is controlled by our thoughts and not genetic factors. Lastly, the approach assumes that our behaviour is constituted of a series of responses to stimuli (Psychologist World, n.d.)
Cognitive psychologists believe the best way to understand human behaviour is through objective, controlled and scientific investigation. Psychologists make inferences about mental processes involved when a person is behaving in a certain way. The information processing models of cognitive psychology perceive the mental process of receiving information, storage, processing, and output to be a clear sequence. For example, psychologists believe stimuli trigger the mental input processes. After input, there are the storage processes concerned with internal brain functions that may include coding and manipulation of the stimuli. Lastly, there are output processes entailing the preparation of an appropriate response to the stimulus.
Psychologists argue that cognitive processing of information can be affected by schemas. Schemas refer to the mental framework of expectations and beliefs a person has out of the experience. People get more experiences as they get older, which increases the packet of information or cognitive framework that helps organize and interpret stimuli. Experience helps people interpret information related to stimuli too fast and effectively, leading to differences in behaviour. However, the same schemas or experiences may affect us negatively as we may select and interpret stimuli using irrelevant schemas. Cognitive psychologists allude to errors people make when perceiving optical illusions and inaccurate eyewitness testimony to the misinterpretation of environmental stimuli. Cognitive psychologists believe that understanding human behaviour requires one to understand the mediational processes. These are the processes that mediate between the stimuli and response. The processes may be memory, attention, problem-solving, and perception. The cognitive approach to human behaviour believes such mental behaviours can be studied scientifically using psychological experiments (Mcleod, 2020). In these contexts, the cognitive approach to psychology is based on the belief thievery behaviour starts from thought.
The psychodynamic approach to psychology is concerned with the interplay between the conscious mind, superego, and subconscious mind in human behaviour. The subconscious mind considers the social norms, which is the external environmental factor. On the other hand, the cognitive approach of human behaviour is based on the belief that human behaviour is a product of thought processes.
